Tuesday, March 11, 2014

YOUR STUNNING VICTORY






Forget about whether or not you’ve been published.  Let’s celebrate the victory of your commitment.

It’s a victory that you’re even attempting to write a book.  It’s a victory that words matter to you, that stories matter, stories that heal and inspire children, the kind of stories you long to create.  It’s a victory that the dream hasn’t withered inside you like is has for so many others.

It’s a victory that your dream is immune to the closing of bookstores, impervious to the proliferation of video games and general all around mindlessness.  It’s a victory that you are trying to be an antidote for that frivolity through the story that lives inside your head, your heart, your gut, your soul, the story that won’t go away.  It just won’t go away.

It’s a victory that you find time to work on it within the blur of your existence.  Five minutes here, ten minutes there, it doesn’t matter, you’re still moving forward.  It’s a victory that you stick with it, keep sticking with it, month after month after month.

It’s a victory that you don’t burn your book after realizing that the first chapter needs to be rewritten although it’s been revised sixteen times already and you were convinced that it was perfect but everyone in your writing group still gets confused by the opening so you’re going back to square one and you’re fine with it.  You have faith in your book.  You know the rest of the story works and the plot is tight.  You’re not going to panic about the opening.  You’re simply not going to panic.  This is a victory.

It’s a victory that you keep sending the book out to agents although you’ve received a few rejections.  You know in your heart that your writing has merit and agents are not infallible, far from it.  You know that all it takes is for one agent to like your work.  That’s all it takes.  You keep telling yourself that.  It’s your little mantra.  This is a victory.

This thing you’ve created, this story, that is still looking for a home, a publisher, a contract, this story sitting on your desk, that may still need work, may still require some revisions, this living thing that has a pulse, that gives off light, that begs you to water its branches and roots, is a stunning victory.

12 comments:

  1. It's important to concentrate on our small victories in this path that comes with so much rejection. Thanks!

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  2. Thanks for the pep talk. Definitely been needing it these days!

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  3. "It’s a victory that you don’t burn your book after realizing that the first chapter needs to be rewritten although it’s been revised sixteen times already and you were convinced that it was perfect but everyone in your writing group still gets confused by the opening so you’re going back to square one and you’re fine with it." ---

    Yeah, THAT one!!! That's a real victory, to be able to throw out the bathwater AND the baby and be fine with it.

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  4. We writers need to read posts like this once in a while. Thank you James. I'm still in it to write it.

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  5. Nice. I'm going to bookmark this for the days when I wonder what in the world I'm doing.

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  6. I so needed this! I do believe there's a book inside me. I visualize the cover, the print, the paintings, the words. I have 5 journals of words, doodles, and thoughts. Why is it that I can help everyone else with their dreams but I can't even begin mine? What's my problem? I guess I should use my own advice! Thanks for listening, it feels good to get that out there!!

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  7. Amen to this, James! And thank you. This is something we all need to hear. As Jerry Spinelli says, if you've finished a rough draft, first pat yourself on the back because you've accomplished something most people haven't accomplished. And the fact that we're all still struggling through the revision process and the querying despite setback after setback is even more of a victory. Saving this post!

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  8. Thanks for the inspiration, James. Brilliant.

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  9. LOVE!!! Thanks for the inspiration

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  10. Dianne already pointed this out, but this may be the most wonderful thing ever written about early drafts: "It’s a victory that you don’t burn your book after realizing that the first chapter needs to be rewritten although it’s been revised sixteen times already and you were convinced that it was perfect but everyone in your writing group still gets confused by the opening so you’re going back to square one and you’re fine with it".

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Thanks for adding to the mayhem!